Anita Said:

does anyone know if Speech Therapy Assistants can work in Early Intervention in Pennsylvania?

We Answered:

if not as a speech therapist you may be able to work as a developmental interventionist

Travis Said:

How can i continue speech therapy for a child aging out of early intervention in NY state?

We Answered:

talk with your speech therapist now and get her suggestions - she can give you exercises and ideas of how you can continue at home. Check with your local hospital too - our hospital offers speech therapy for any child - some of our preschoolers go there and some go to the public school. Don't give up!

Claude Said:

Speech therapy and early intervention...?

We Answered:

Mermaid, the term "early intervention" concerns me when talking about a two year old.
Therapy is something used after a confirmed diagnosis of a developmental problem, early intervention sounds like the government or pharmaceutical companies trying to influence the actions of a parent before a real problem is proven.

Children develop at different rates, I remember, but can't quote a disheartening criticism of Albert Einstein by his grade school teachers, they judged him as having severe problems.

Mermaid, you are the mother, you bore him. Let no one else make your decisions for you, I know you have his best interests at heart.

Katrina Said:

I think my 16-month-old has a speech delay?

We Answered:

I think you need to go with your gut, no matter what your MIL says. However, in my opinion 16 months old is a little young to be worrying about speech delays. Two of mine basically said nothing until well over 2 and then within weeks were talking in sentences. I had tons of people telling me to get them tested and get them put into speech, but my thinking was that they were only babies, and babies progress at different rates right? Needless to say they both speak perfectly fine, it just took them longer then my other two.

In retrospect I do find it interesting that my two that were slow to talk were the two that mastered large motor skills very quickly. Both were walking at 10 months old and were running and jumping off of everything at 18 months old. My two that spoke early didn't hit another of the physical milestones, like walking, sitting up etc until they were older then "normal babies". I just find that interesting :)

Derek Said:

Has early intervention made a difference in your child?

We Answered:

We had my son evaluated for a speech delay at 19 months old. He qualified for speech therapy and has now been working with her once a week for an hour for about six week. When we started speech therapy he only said mama and dada and wasn't really into pointing to communicate either.....just grunted until you figured it out.

Now six week later he points to everything he wants or leads you there. On top of mama and dada he can say wawa (water), wow, oh, go and quack quack. He also has learned the signs "more" and "please". So after six weeks I think this awesome progress. He is 21 months now and while I know he is still WAY behind other children his age...I'm hoping by catching it early that we can catch up quicker!

Hope this helps....

Jose Said:

Starting early intervention speech therapy?

We Answered:

In my opinion, you should spend all the time working with him in a natural environment. At this young age, it is probably best not to set aside specific time to work, and an hour is way way beyond the appropriate attention span of a 2 year old. Spend all day talking to him, ask him simple questions and discuss things that interest him and his brother. Your younger son could be your greatest ally in this situation, because he may be the one setting the example. Also, make sure you're getting a lot of good interaction. For example, make sure there is a time of day where the television is off and there are few distractions. Another great option is to find a play group or something in your area where your son can be around other kids his age. Sometimes kids who are very resistant to adults do well with their peers.
You sound like you are very eager and excited to do anything you can to help, which is great, but try not to overdo it. Some kids just take a while.
Also, keep in mind that your local school district will be required to provide services to your child as soon as he turns 3 if he has a speech or other delay. In about 6 months, when he is nearly 3, give them a call and they should begin assessing him. You're never alone with a child with special needs!

Lillie Said:

Parents who have had their children in early intervention speech therapy?

We Answered:

My son has been in it for a year. He is 10 months behind (and was 10 months behind when we first started) In all honesty, I think it's pointless. A woman comes to our house once a week for a 45 minute session. She brings toys and books, sings songs and just annunciates words and does lots of repetition, asking, etc. She basically does the same thing I do all day every day. I feel like he would have made the same progress without her as he did with her. He will be 3 in July, and has about a vocabulary of about 40-50 words and said his first sentence today "Eat your cereal, Sean!" I am thinking about just removing him from the program.